Saturday, February 2, 2008

Assessment three

Facilitating online learning communities course assessments.
Assessment three:


Please I need your help!!!
For assessment three I have to facilitate an online group discussion of one hours duration through some medium, this could be in second life, or through an elluminate session. I would like to get a group together to talk about blogging and/or midwifery and/or womens' health. If any of you kind readers out there would like to join me for something like this could you please either email me at cardacs@gmail.com or leave a comment here. If people are willing to meet in this way I will arrange a pre-meeting get together just to familiarise ourselves with what we are doing and the technology and to firm up the date time and details of the online group meeting.

This by the way is me in second life. It can get quite lonely there sometimes, it would be really good to have some folks to talk to.

19 comments:

Sarah Stewart said...

Am very happy to join you. Where are you in Second Life? Personally, I would like to do it in SL because I have no way got the hang of SL. Every time I go there, I hit a snag and in end leaving in a mega sulk/tantrum! But I think if you're going to do it in SL, you need an experienced person with you to help. Why don't you advertise it on the midwifery research list and also the NZ midwives list. THere are also several Facebook groups you could go to. I have to say that none of this was successful for me, but it wont do any harm.

Carolyn said...

Thanks for these suggestion Sarah. I thought I might start by putting a call out here and see what happens. I don't want a very large group, 4 or 5 would be fine I think. Particularly if it is in second life. I agree this is probably a good place to go. I need to talk with Bronwyn about this before I go too far down the track with it. Haven't had the opportunity to meet with her yet.

Re where I am here. I followed a link from a feed that came through on my igoogle page, can't find that feed now. It was through a portal that had been developed on Koru Island. It is a nice place with several meeting places. Very commercial though promoting Microsoft software, I suppose that is where the money came from to create it. If you get to the portal it is easy to get in as there are instructions there and board to touch which lets you magically teleport in, same thing from the inside when you want to get out.

Sarah Stewart said...

Just put out a call for you via twitter. Let me know if you have any responses.

Carolyn said...

Thanks for that. I have been thinking asome more about this and have decided to put a message out that I what to have a meeting in SL to discuss a virtual birthing centre in SL for undergraduate student learning. This session will start with familiarising those who are unfamiliar with the environment of SL and will then follow on to discussing what the optimal birthing centre might look like and progress form there if there is time to do so. I am hoping that it will attract midwifery educators and anyone else who has a n interest in this. We could start a collaborative group which may be able to move on and begin to create something in a collaborative venture.
So still thinking a bit but I think this is where I am going with this.

Sarah Stewart said...

Sounds good but it will also be good to get some experienced SL people there to hold your/our hands.

Emma Someone said...

I'd love to join and participate but don't do SL - no time or interest in it really...

Carolyn said...

I agree about getting some expert help Sarah. I wonder if Arwena would be willing to help us out?

Carolyn said...

I understand the reticence with second life 'Midwifery is Catching'. I have been encouraged to get involved with second life because of a course of study. What has occurred to me is that there is potential, in a virtual environment such as second life, to create a learning resource where students could explore childbirth topics in a realistic, game like setting. Making different choices would lead to different outcomes, much like the games our children are playing. I would like to investigate this further in a collaborative way with midwives, midwifery lecturers and others with an interest in this topic. Together we could possibly create something really valuable and worthwhile.

I realise that many of us are uncomfortable unfamiliar and lack interest in virtual worlds but it might be beneficial for us to at least explore some potentials for this. If such a resource is to be established it needs some serious involvement and direction from midwives. What I want to explore is a virtual birthing center. Although obstetric units may be different across the world I believe there is a universal understanding of what constitutes a birthing center, so this provides and ideal opportunity for collaboration. I expect that our first meeting in second life will probably just involve getting people setup and feeling a little more comfortable, although I hope we do have some useful discussion too.

It would be great if you could step past your feelings about second life and come along to help us explore this potential.

Elinor Clarke said...

Hi Carolyn,
Great news I am a UK midwife with a an interest in second life. I am a Midwifery lecturer and have a building on Coventry University's island (CIPeL IP Centre) which has a waiting room, birthing room, OR and other learning spaces. I am very interested in collaborating with you and would like to meet!

Carolyn said...

Fantastic Elinor, thanks for getting in touch. I have left a message on your blog. Wondering if we could use your space for a meeting of like minds or those who have an interest in pursuing this further. Would It be OK if we shared facilitation of a meeting if we do manage to organise it? I need to do something like this for this assessment you see.

Hallmum said...

Hello Carolyn
I haven't signed up for SL yet but would be interested in developing this as a teaching tool.
best wishes
jenny

Anonymous said...

Hi Carolyn, as a lapsed midwife and now a teacher of Health Informatics and elearning I'm really interested in what you're doing. As I said in my email my current research is in the educational use of immersive technologies for healthcare professionals. As I'm only down the road from Elinor (I'm in Worcester) I'd really like to meet up with you all in SL. I'm fairly new to SL but I think there are lots of possibilities for education, especially if it can be linked with gaming.

Carolyn said...

Jenny you might find the next post with some vidoes about how to get started in second life useful. It would be good to have you involved if you are interested. You can contact me directly at cardacs@gmail.com
Hope to hear from you soon.

Sarah Stewart said...

You should also try advertising on Facebook to the midwives there. There are several large midwifery groups. Having said that, I didn't have much success there. But it does get your stuff out there.

Carolyn said...

Tim thanks for your support for this idea. I suppose the next thing is to arrange a time and place for this to happen. I need to speak with some people here first and will get in touch about this soon. hope we can get some more interest.

Emma Someone said...

Heh - I find it amusing that you assume my reluctance to get into SL is because I am not open to new technology. I am a GenY'er and am undertaking a course delivered mostly online and my reluctance is only that, as a student on call 24/7 while working 3 jobs to support myself, I don't have the time or energy to learn a new tool.

It has nothing to do with reluctance to learn something new or unfamiliar, and I am interested in the whole concept - just not while also trying to juggle sleep deprivation and money/time troubles because I'm a student.

Perhaps explore people's reluctance rather than assuming it's because they're scared of technology. Facebook for example is booming with midwives, and there are other forums to discuss this (ozmidwifery list for eg) if you want volnteers.

Carolyn said...

No such assumptions being made here "midwifery is catching'. You stated no time or interest. Your comments here suggest you do have an interest. I on the other hand have no interest in facebook, but I am happy for you to state a case, to stimulate my interest, if you wish.

Bronwyn hegarty said...

carolyn
even before your SL session there is lots of evidence that you are already facilitating the formation of a very interesting community of people interacting and making plans to meet in SL and you have made lots of potential contacts.

Bronwyn hegarty said...

forgot to tick the email box. this time.
Bron

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